4HI problems?

02 Envoy SLT, 35K, had it for 4 months. Never had 4WD before. First snow of the season last nite, so I switched to 4HI for a drive to the store. All seemed fine until parking at the store, wet pavement. Very jerky during sharp slow turns. When backing out of the space, it felt/sounded as if I had the parking brake on. Straight ahead driving had no problem. I read the manual, said to use 4HI on snow, A4WD on "variable"...

There have been no problems in 2HI since we bought it. Anyone have advice on this?

When you're in 4-Hi, you lock all 4 wheels and they rotate at exactly the same speed. During typical driving (2WD) the wheels rotate at slightly different speeds when you corner & make turns. So, when you choose 4-Hi, you should be 'bulldozing' or 'blowing thru'.

Avoid turning in 4-Hi if you can because the engine will grunt at you, mainly because your vehicle does not have total control.

Thanks for the info. I did not realize that 4HI functioned without "differential" action for turning. I will avoid using it in town.